The present invention relates to the field of public information and entertainment facilities and more particularly it relates to a transportable public walk-up viewing/listening station that provides a plurality of partially enclosed hooded modules in which a child or adult can comfortably stand and view video programs with accompanying sound, sourced from educational and/or promotional audio-visual media material and preferably in stereoscopic video and stereophonic sound.
Public interest in viewing moving images has continued strong over the many decades dating back to the beginning of the xe2x80x9cmoviesxe2x80x9d. There has been a further fascination with three-dimensional viewing dating back even further to early optical stereoscopic home viewers providing three dimensional still images and public viewing devices such as the xe2x80x9cnickelodeonxe2x80x9d.
Modern audio/video technology has now opened up new possibilities for high quality color video and audio in public viewing facilities for gatherings such as trade shows. Video screen type displays are popular in this field, however they suffer from at least two major disadvantages: (1) high ambient lighting from an uncontrollable environment can severely degrade the visual impact by washing out the picture even with maximum available brightness and contrast levels, and (2) at present, practical systems for stereo or 3D viewing on a screen type display involve some sort of compromise in picture quality, e.g. sharpness or color, in providing the necessary left/right picture information, and typically require each user to wear special polarized or bi-colored xe2x80x9c3Dxe2x80x9d glasses to separate the left and right images. This requirement for xe2x80x9c3Dxe2x80x9d glasses is a great annoyance to users and a potential liability to proprietors of public viewing facilities who are forced to choose between the problem of theft-prevention if the glasses are of good quality versus the ongoing replacement expense and sacrifice of picture quality if the glasses are made as cheap throw-away items. Even with glasses of high quality, whether using color-difference or polarization, the left/right separation, i.e. stereoscopic rejection, tends to be marginal, such that unwanted cross-leakage can degrade the picture with xe2x80x9cghostingxe2x80x9d effects.
Recent advances in electro-optics, e.g. LCD and other panel display devices, have made available binocular eyepiece video viewing devices that can provide excellent picture quality. Furthermore such binocular video viewers are inherently adaptable to stereoscopic viewing for a dramatic new 3D impact; stereo-video/stereo-audio source material is becoming increasingly available commercially, particularly in a flicker-free field-sequential format that can be made to include line-doubling, applicable to videotape, CDs, computer memory, etc., for which video cameras and viewing equipment are now becoming commercially available at reduced cost, enabling production of full stereoscopic/stereophonic media even by small independent video studios.
In considering various approaches for the human-interface in the end use of video/audio technology, one possible approach would be to incorporate headphones in a helmet along with the binocular eyepieces as viewing goggles. However for purposes of the present invention it has been concluded that for best enjoyment the eyepieces should be firmly mounted on a stationary structure, and that loudspeakers should be utilized, thus the user is kept free from the constraint of headphones, goggles and/or a helmet.
When binocular eyepiece viewers are mounted to a fixed object such as a walk-up facility for viewing from a standing position, there is an unfulfilled need for an apparatus that would allow the user to conveniently adjust the elevation of the eyepieces so as to optimally match the individual user""s height.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,764 for a METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SCREENLESS PANORAMIC STEREO TV requires the user to wear a helmet-like apparatus with built-in stereo headphones and goggle-like enclosures containing eyepiece viewing devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,246 for a PORTABLE MULTIMEDIA MARKETING SYSTEM discloses a portable presentation case that holds audio and video playback components including a pair of loudspeakers and a video monitor to be hand held by the viewer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,836 for a GAME FOR SIMULATING SUBMARINE CONNING STATION discloses an amusement game which includes a rotating column and viewport for simulating the periscope column at the conning station of a submarine. The display is a video tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,903 discloses an AUDIO VIDEO ENTERTAINMENT MODULE including an enclosed module which contains a video screen, audio speakers and seating for one or two viewers.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a transportable walk-up entertainment/educational station equipped with a quantity of partially-enclosed individual walk-up viewing/listening modules constituting a form of theater in which attendees of a public gathering can simultaneously but individually enjoy viewing video material along with associated sound.
It is a further object to make the video presentation stereoscopic, i.e. perceived as three-dimensional, and to make the sound stereophonic.
It is a further object that such stations be made attractive and ergonomic: easy, comfortable and satisfying for users of various sizes and ages to view and listen from a standing position.
It is a further object that the multimedia station provide in each module a pair of installed eyepieces adapted for stereoscopic video viewing and a pair of installed stereophonic loudspeakers driven from a related audio source.
It is a further object that the installed pair of eyepieces be attached securely within the corresponding module and that the module be captivated to the station yet easy to adjust for elevation by a user so as to accommodate the particular height of an individual user.
It is a still further object that elevation adjustment of the viewing assembly be made to be easily adjustable manually by the user and that such adjustment should not require any other source of motivating power.
It is a still further object to provide a user control mechanism which includes a default braking action that actuates automatically to prevent any downward movement of the viewing assembly, but which allows the viewing assembly to be raised or lowered readily by the user for individual elevation adjustment.
The abovementioned objects have been accomplished by the present invention of a transportable walk-up station, to be known commercially as the Fascination Station, that accommodates up to six users simultaneously in six separate partially enclosed modules, each equipped with eyepieces for stereoscopic viewing and with a pair of speakers for stereophonic listening. The modules are arrayed around a central vertical support column to which each module is captivated by a roller assembly that allows vertical travel of each module, counterbalanced so that the user can easily shift the module up or down manually to adjust the eyepieces as required to suit the individual user""s height. A unilateral brake mechanism holds the module in place at a constant elevation for viewing, allows the module to be shifted upwardly with only a light upward force, and allows it to be shifted downwardly upon actuation of a hand-operated brake release lever.